KEY STEPS

Since the civil war ended in Liberia in 2003, many areas of the capital of Monrovia still have
damaged sewer infrastructure. Fecal sludge in latrines is left untreated, which is causing health
problems and emitting methane, which is a potent greenhouse gas. Fostering Innovative Sanitation
and Hygiene (FISH) is the first initiative by the Liberian government, since the civil war, to
provide fecal sludge management services to unsewered poor areas of Liberia, reducing greenhouse
gas emissions while providing new or improved access to sanitation for 800,000 people.

Liberia's civil war (1989-2003) resulted in limited infrastructure maintenance and development,
particularly in the sanitation and water sectors. The government of Liberia has not provided faecal
sludge sewer management services in Monrovia's informal settlements, where 70 per cent of the
population has lived since the end of the civil war in 2003.

The long-standing conflict put a halt to infrastructure maintenance and development, particularly
in the areas of water (access to adequate water supply is at 27 per cent) and safe sanitation (7
per cent). More than 800,000 people in Monrovia lack access to sewer systems. Accumulated and
untreated fecal sludge from existing latrines already causes methane emissions (with 25 times more
greenhouse impact than CO2).

river baths

The solution

FISH is the first initiative by the government of Liberia to provide fecal sludge management services to
unsewered poor areas of Liberia since the end of the civil war in 2003. This activity enhances capacity for
sustainable city-wide faecal sludge management through a community-driven approach. It is doing so by
improving the toilet facilities of households, by rehabilitating the sewerage system, by implementing
communal toilet facilities for dense settlements and by providing public toilet facilities in market
places.

In addition to increasing urban slum dwellers’ access to sanitation and hygiene services, the
initiative will collect and treat fecal sludge along with the controlled capture of biogas to produce
reusable products and fertilizer, reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The activity is also creating health
benefits for local populations by reducing their vulnerability to water-borne diseases that result from
open defecation and septic tank overflows.

field work

Helping people

This activity helps the urban poor in Monrovia by promoting community-based enterprises and
management teams to build local ownership; by employing local artisans to build the required septic
tanks; by using a public-private-partnership model for emptying services; and by providing
technical assistance for devising an effective marketing and sales strategy to kick off the sale of
faecal sludge fertilizer, to ensure a successful pitch to local farmers and boost sales. Derived
economic benefits include creating 15 businesses and 55 new jobs for the urban poor.

Spillover effect

The activity is expected to be scaled up to cover all unsewered urban areas in Monrovia and
throughout Liberia. It is also expected to build donor confidence in Liberia.